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Progress photo poses: front, side and back

Three views, the same each week, beat a dozen creative angles. Clinics photographing bodies for before-and-after work standardised pose for the same reason you should: a change of arm position can look like a change of body.

By the Shapen team at Minimaapps · Published · How we write about health

The three views that matter

Front, right side, back. That set covers the outline of the waist, the shoulders, the hips and how the arms hang. Body-contour clinics use standard views and a repeatable patient position so later photos can be compared (Gherardini et al., 1997; DiBernardo et al., 1998). You do not need a studio to copy the idea (Persichetti et al., 2007).

Keep the order the same every week so you never wonder which photo is missing.

How to stand

  • Feet hip-width apart, weight even on both feet. Do not lock one knee or shift onto a hip.
  • Look straight ahead for the front and back. For the side, look forward, not at the camera.
  • Breathe out normally. Do not suck the stomach in or push it out.
  • Relaxed first. A flexed or “show” pose is optional, and only after the relaxed set. Relaxed photos are the ones you compare.

Arms and hands

Arm position changes shadows and can hide the waist. Researchers photographing people after major weight loss found that arm position affected shadowing, obstruction and distortion (Wong and Vinyard, 2014).

  • Front: arms slightly away from your sides, palms toward your thighs, shoulders dropped. Leave a gap so the waist is visible.
  • Side: the arm nearest the camera stays slightly back or hangs so it does not cover the stomach. The far arm can stay by the side.
  • Back: same as the front — a small gap, palms in, no hands on hips.

Hands on hips, arms crossed, or a phone in one hand will not match next week.

What to wear

Fitted clothing or swimwear, the same each week. Loose shirts hide the waist; dark, shiny fabric swallows shape. Bare feet help you stand in the same marks on the floor.

What to skip

  • A different angle every week “to see the glutes better”. Add a second side if you must, and keep it forever, rather than inventing a new shot.
  • Selfies at arm’s length. Distance changes proportions; step back and use a timer. Details are in how to take progress photos that line up.
  • Shooting every day in a new pose. Frequency belongs in how often to take progress photos.

Doing this with Shapen

Shapen’s camera has front, side and back built in. Last week’s photo sits faintly over the viewfinder, so you step into the same pose and the same distance. On iPhone Duo you can stand the phone half-folded as its own tripod. The photos stay on your iPhone; there is no account and no Shapen server.

When the outline of the waist is changing but the scale is not, read scale not moving but losing inches.

References

  1. DiBernardo BE, Adams RL, Krause J, Fiorillo MA, Gherardini G. Photographic standards in plastic surgery. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1998;102(2):559–568. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006534-199808000-00045
  2. Gherardini G, Matarasso A, Serure AS, Toledo LS, DiBernardo BE. Standardization in photography for body contour surgery and suction-assisted lipectomy. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1997;100(1):227–237. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006534-199707000-00034
  3. Wong MS, Vinyard WJ. Photographic standards for the massive weight loss patient. Ann Plast Surg. 2014;73(Suppl 1):S82–S87. https://doi.org/10.1097/SAP.0000000000000249
  4. Persichetti P, Simone P, Langella M, Marangi GF, Carusi C. Digital photography in plastic surgery: how to achieve reasonable standardization outside a photographic studio. Aesthetic Plast Surg. 2007;31(2):194–200. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-006-0125-5